Today has been an exercise in self control. A novel for which I’ve been waiting waiting waiting has been released — Kings Rising, the conclusion to CS Pacat’s Captive Prince fantasy trilogy is now available. In fact, it is already sitting on my kindle. But I promised myself that February (i.e. this week) marked the … Continue reading The year of getting stuff done
Identify what’s important and make time
In this life there are always things we want to do, and things we have to do. Then there are the things we should do... All this has me writing really long to-do lists, at which I often stare perplexedly trying to decide which item to tackle first. Sometimes it's a challenge to figure out … Continue reading Identify what’s important and make time
And that’s a NaNoWriMo wrap
Well, that was an experience. My first NaNoWriMo. I didn't quite make it to the end, but I did give it a red hot go for 25 days out of 30 and achieved 41, 750 words. This (aside from the fact I didn't achieve the ultimate goal of 50K) is a wonderful thing. It's certainly more … Continue reading And that’s a NaNoWriMo wrap
Did I just sign up for NaNoWriMo?
I'm a little bit excited. This week I took the plunge and signed up for my first NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). The challenge -- and readers of this blog might be aware I love a challenge -- is to write 50,000 words of a novel during the 30 days of November. (Technically the challenge … Continue reading Did I just sign up for NaNoWriMo?
The secret ingredient to productivity
They say one of the keys to being successful at any creative endeavour is perseverance. Discipline comes in handy too. Yeah yeah, there are also talent and self-belief, but they're very hard to control... There is another secret ingredient I've come to value very highly over the years -- and that's friends. More specifically, friends … Continue reading The secret ingredient to productivity
Six ways writers are like Olympic athletes
When the Australian world champion swimmer dubbed 'The Missile' swam a time dramatically slower than expected in the 4X100m freestyle relay at the London Olympics this week -- resulting in NO MEDAL (shock! horror!) -- the media furor was pretty shocking. "What happened?" everyone wanted to know, the implicit meaning being: How could you do this to us? … Continue reading Six ways writers are like Olympic athletes
Every day is new, with no mistakes in it
"Every day is new, with no mistakes in it." This is the first of two powerful life lessons I learnt long ago from the novel Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. I quote it to myself often, especially when I find myself getting frustrated about falling behind in my daily goals and not achieving … Continue reading Every day is new, with no mistakes in it
Four positives out of an ‘average’ WIP Wednesday
Ever have one of those days when you do all the right things -- sit down at the computer, open the WIP, block out all distractions, prepare for an unbroken afternoon of productivity -- and end up with a mere (this is almost too embarrassing to admit) 250 words? Four hours. FOUR HOURS was how … Continue reading Four positives out of an ‘average’ WIP Wednesday
Let’s talk about choices
Tonight I chose to watch Legally Blond on TV instead of working on my WIP. My plan was, of course, to write during the movie, which I’ve seen multiple times. I’d opened a bottle of wine and decided that a position stretched out on the sofa, laptop on knee, would be far more comfortable than … Continue reading Let’s talk about choices
The craziness of TWO careers
Over the past few weeks I have finally come to terms with something: I have two careers. There's the day-to-day salaried position as a marketing and communications specialist with a global organisation that brings in the dollars. And then there's my other writing career--my fiction-writing career (for many years my secret career)--that doesn't (yet) provide … Continue reading The craziness of TWO careers
E V Gregory 